Author Topic: What's in the pipeline?  (Read 267189 times)

Colt Ward

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #960 on: 07 May 2019, 11:44:43 »
Which is why I waited . . . its been 5 or 6 quarters with the 3 releases, I THINK coincidentally when they had the problem with the PGI/HBS/CGL lawsuit that had the Valkyrie pulled.
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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #961 on: 07 May 2019, 12:37:21 »
has anyone looked back at the release schedule from when they were doing 4 per quarter to see if that 4th slot was more often than not a vehicle? - because they don't do retail vees anymore. a fourth mech mold might put them over for costs

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Dragon41673

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #962 on: 07 May 2019, 13:18:21 »
has anyone looked back at the release schedule from when they were doing 4 per quarter to see if that 4th slot was more often than not a vehicle? - because they don't do retail vees anymore. a fourth mech mold might put them over for costs

That only happened very infrequently. Typically it was another mech.
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MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #963 on: 07 May 2019, 13:23:40 »
I suspect that how few mechs are left without minis at this point has something to do with it.
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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #964 on: 07 May 2019, 13:41:07 »
That only happened very infrequently. Typically it was another mech.

had a chance to go back and check the internet archive - this is true for at least 2017 (as far back as the release page goes).

I suspect that how few mechs are left without minis at this point has something to do with it.

at least ones they're willing to produce. you could do four a quarter for years if you did all of the XTRO and prototypes mechs, plus the leftover 3085 and 3145/50. I've got about 115 of those.

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Psycho

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #965 on: 07 May 2019, 14:16:18 »
at least ones they're willing to produce.

That's the key point. Others may be alright for online exclusives, and certainly for fan-funding efforts, but wouldn't move enough for distribution purposes. That's why you don't see vehicles either, the volume just isn't there for distribution.

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #966 on: 07 May 2019, 15:15:13 »
right. as cool as the Slagmaiden or Schwerer Gustav would be, there's not a booming market for jihad-era one-offs

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Colt Ward

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #967 on: 07 May 2019, 15:24:06 »
I was just wondering . . . I mean, it would be cool to be told 'well our business plan/forecast intended to release 1 Classic a month and we never adjusted that plan to keep it simple.'  My heart is telling me that, a lot, but I sort of wanted to see if it was my imagination where we had gone through a period of a couple of years of releasing four while before that the count was less.  Its only been the last 5 or 6 years I have been watching the release thread or on IWM's news- before that I would buy what I found in a store or order shipped to me when I lived in the sticks.
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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #968 on: 07 May 2019, 19:27:28 »
While I am a sculptor, I know nothing about sales numbers.

What I can bet though, is that the main reason we only have 3 a quarter (compared to 4 every 2 months back in 2012-2013) is MWO minis. If people would buy the official stuff, there would be more official stuff.

Dragon41673

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #969 on: 07 May 2019, 19:43:24 »
I've had some discussions with Mike at IWM on this subject back when it changed as I was surprised. The decision was based (if I recall correctly) sales numbers & other contractual agreements. IWM as you all know doesn't just make Battletech stuff, they do contract casting as well as Fantasy figures. A LOT of factors goes into the decision of making more, or less, of a product line. So it may be more than what I recall as I may not have been privy to all the info.

Now...before everyone goes all crazy & says Illegal MWO stuff is taking over, or the game is dying, etc...neither is true.

My personal opinion (which probably stinks in some peoples minds), especially based on my own sites sales, some of the decisions on what miniature to make...aren't the best. Now, I don't know the full process, and it could simply be someone higher up saying "hey make this one", but it could also be some sort of intricate plan that I don't know about.

I think a good deal of catch-up is needed, and I think using the poll option here on the forums or on Battletech International Facebook group (or better yet...both averaged out) would be an AWESOME idea. Poll people with say 15-20 options for the quarterly release schedule. This way, popular vote wins.

Take for instance...how many people actually bough the Vixen 6? Granted, this will be a little skewed since the official record sheet didn't exist until Catalyst gave it to IWM...but seriously...that, and some of the other designs that got variants in "normal distribution" just didn't make good sales sense based ONLY on MY numbers I've sold.

Whereas other...crap people, I couldn't order them fast enough to keep them in stock. I was literally ordering 12 at a time, and could NOT keep them on the shelf. Know how many Vixen 6's I've sold...7, and one of those was to myself.

So if the powers that be read this, which I hope they do, I think a good idea to help increase sales of miniatures, is to do a poll for the general public opinion on what they would like to see based ONLY on STANDARD existing designs that have NOT seen the light of day with a single sculpt. For example, the Xanthos already had a sculpt, did we need the -6O...nope, its a beauty, don't get me wrong, but that over items that haven't had a single mini made??? It just doesn't make sense to me...and many others I've talked to.

And before anyone says polls don't relay TRUE intent on sales...yes, I FULLY understand that, but it will help point people in the right direction for what might sell better than a 6th sculpt of something we already have a boat load of.
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MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #970 on: 07 May 2019, 20:06:08 »
While I am a sculptor, I know nothing about sales numbers.

What I can bet though, is that the main reason we only have 3 a quarter (compared to 4 every 2 months back in 2012-2013) is MWO minis. If people would buy the official stuff, there would be more official stuff.

That particular topic has led to more than a few rather heated discussions around my group's gaming table.  Mostly because there's one player who insists that his MWO minis are totes legal.
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Dragon41673

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #971 on: 07 May 2019, 20:08:57 »
That particular topic has led to more than a few rather heated discussions around my group's gaming table.  Mostly because there's one player who insists that his MWO minis are totes legal.

Well...that's a MAJOR grey area. You can print your own, but how many people own a good enough 3D printer to print their own "production quality" MWO minis??? Not many. So if for some reason he happens to be one...ok, sure...technically it's "legal" because he is abiding by the ToS from PGI and printing for his own use.

Now...tournament legal is something COMPLETELY different! LOL

Let's cycle this back to what's in the pipeline though...

IWM...any word on the next Online Exclusive releases???
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DarkSpade

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #972 on: 07 May 2019, 20:34:16 »
I've often wondered if we'll ever see official MWO minis.   I guess the big question is would the rewards for a company producing them be worth all the hassle to get the rights.
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Dragon41673

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #973 on: 07 May 2019, 20:35:43 »
I've often wondered if we'll ever see official MWO minis.   I guess the big question is would the rewards for a company producing them be worth all the hassle to get the rights.

Long drawn out story on that one, I'll reserve comment and let the official people handle that one!
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MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #974 on: 07 May 2019, 20:58:57 »
The issue has to do with how tangled up the IP for all things Battletech on the computer is, right?
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Dragon41673

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #975 on: 07 May 2019, 21:02:09 »
The issue has to do with how tangled up the IP for all things Battletech on the computer is, right?

That is definitely part of it...but, the ability to produce is there from what I'm told, the desire lacks. Beyond that...I don't have all the specifics, so I can't fully comment.
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abou

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #976 on: 07 May 2019, 21:02:40 »
Dragon raises some excellent points. I remember when IWM was discussing the idea of variants (a long time ago) and having those available. They mentioned the Awesome 8T, which in my mind would have been cool. Although now that I know more about the sculpting process, I would be concerned that if that had happened, would it have been a new sculpt or based off a production miniature? If the latter, we would see a noticeable difference in size due to shrinkage.

Now we didn't get that. But we did get a whole lot of Project Phoenix 'mechs with rocket launchers. Which leaves a big question of, "Why those?" That was also in an era when the quality from IWM could vary wildly. Thankfully there has been a lot of improvement. Although I too would be curious as to what decisions are made and how.

At one point IWM -- or it may have been Ral Partha -- had talked about coinciding release of miniatures with new products. That ideally when a book would be released, we would see those miniatures available immediately if not soon after. But BattleTech has been so prolific it just isn't possible. And that crowds out miniatures for units that I would find more interesting to see used.

Also, I've seen a lot of the MWO 3D printed minis on the Facebook groups. For many, their quality is laughable at best. We'll see what Anthony Scroggins can do though and what that means for IWM.

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #977 on: 07 May 2019, 22:51:44 »
The thread has gotten a little off topic.

There are many reasons why the number released each quarter has changed over the years. Not something that I am able to really talk about.

As for MWO, will never see anything done by IWM for these. Would be an entire new license and at this point not worth it since people have been selling them online for years now.

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #978 on: 08 May 2019, 00:23:48 »
I want MWO minis for some mechs, but I'm unlikely to get any not official.

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #979 on: 08 May 2019, 01:05:19 »
I want MWO minis for some mechs, but I'm unlikely to get any not official.
Well, some IWM mechs are pretty close.
Lu Wei Bing is basically a MWO Victor and could easily proxy as one.

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #980 on: 08 May 2019, 05:32:38 »
My apologies for derailment.

As for upcoming minis, anyone have a painted swordsman or crud to show off?

Colt Ward

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #981 on: 08 May 2019, 09:26:32 »
Look in the miniatures section, someone raced to paint up a pretty solid one with some close in pictures.

I want one, and will probably have to wait for my FLGS since they are sorting out their distributor dropping IWM.  I know they asked what folks would consider buying from the catalog, got a list of mechs, and then the Agent gave some suggestions of what to have in stock that people might pick up.  Basically he submitted a list of iconic mechs- Timber Wolf, Atlas, Battlemaster, etc.  I know I am getting a Falconer, and a Scourge when its released.
Colt Ward
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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #982 on: 08 May 2019, 10:58:51 »
Yep...like the image attached

OH MY GOD THAT IS SO COOL!

Seriously, the two Shadow Cats in Clickwarrior were my mains basically for the remainder of the games lifespan. I am excited to see this model make it to metal
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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #983 on: 08 May 2019, 11:07:58 »
2 posts of the Swordsman as of this moment.  I'm still deciding on a scheme for my 8L.

My apologies for derailment.

As for upcoming minis, anyone have a painted swordsman or crud to show off?

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #984 on: 10 May 2019, 19:54:12 »

As a new player, I’d say what makes MWO minis so tempting is that they’re competing with some of the oldest designs out there.  Hell, they might be some of the oldest sci-fi miniature wargame sculpts still on sale.  The CGL starter box changed that for nine mechs, but given how hard the plastics were to clean up, I’ve decided that I’ll wait for IWM versions of new sculpts when more of the new designs get released.

In other words, redo the 3025 mechs. 

The practice of releasing primitive versions of classic mechs works well.  I bought a RFL-1N model to use as a regular Rifleman and a Raven II to use as a Raven even though the armament isn’t quite right.  (Weapon bits would be nice!)  They look great.  The Lu Wei Bing is another approach - redo classic mechs under new names - but how many people are going to find out about it?  Could you give it a “Victor” tag so it shows up in searches? 

Having said all that… I’d buy a Brahma if you made one.

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #985 on: 10 May 2019, 20:47:47 »
Having said all that… I’d buy a Brahma if you made one.

YES!!! I've been waiting for one since 2010! I'm not crazy about variants, primitives (and primitive variants) being made before releasing units that don't have a mini, and the Brahma has been top of my list for a while.
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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #986 on: 11 May 2019, 13:54:09 »
Some of the 3025 mechs. Some still hold up. I think the Orion, panther, blackjack and others could use some work, but hold up.

The problem is that they are descended form the '80s, and the 80s giant robot aesthetic was limited by television screen sizes and resolutions, as well as how hard it was to draw thousands of them for animation.

but yes, 3025 to update the look and 3055-58 to make some of the sculpts less bloated and awkward would be my priorities. Modular bits for various variants in the basic blister would be heavenly, by the way

Colt Ward

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #987 on: 23 May 2019, 13:57:17 »
Has the Q2 releases gone to stores yet?  I think a Scourge needs to be added to my 4th Regulan Hussars . . .

Any announcements for Q4?
Colt Ward
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MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #988 on: 23 May 2019, 14:06:24 »
Well, Ares Games isn't listing them, at least.
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Re: What's in the pipeline?
« Reply #989 on: 23 May 2019, 16:07:21 »
or the ebay seller i sometimes order from.

it seems like the quarterly releases are middle of the second month to beginning of the third month so we're in the range where they could drop any day now.

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